All Blacks search for more grunt

The All Blacks are expected to delay naming their team until later this week, but it will not surprise anyone if Canterbury's raw-boned Reuben Thorne makes his World Cup rugby debut against Tonga on October 4.

Coach John Hart hinted before leaving New Zealand the team would be named on Wednesday, but it is not likely to be selected now until Friday or Saturday.

This gives the tour selectors a few extra days to firm up on a side, and four solid training sessions will sort out any doubts they have about certain players.

Thorne could push his way with a more robust style of play into a South Island-dominated pack. This would be at the expense of Andrew Blowers and Dylan Mika.

The other area not set in concrete yet is the midfield. Hart and his assistant Peter Sloane are pondering the merits of Christian Cullen at centre and Alama Ieremia at second five-eighths ahead of Daryl Gibson.

Several secret training sessions over the new few days will confirm the All Black blueprint for the Cup campaign.

If Thorne is selected for blindside flanker he will have earned a World Cup game through an unfashionable route. He was never selected for national age-group sides as a loose forward, first rising to prominence at lock for Canterbury three years ago.

He made his All Black test debut in Pretoria early last month and may have done enough to encourage the selectors to play him against Tonga.

Whoever plays the first game is also likely to turn out against England in the tough second-round group B match which could decide their World Cup fate.

"It would be great if I got the chance to play the first game, but I won't know for a few days yet," Thorne said. "Everyone wants to play in the World Cup and there would be nothing better than to get a foot in the door in the first game.

"I was surprised at the end of July to get a call-up to go to South Africa, which was the first indication I might be in the picture, first at lock then out to the loose forwards.

"I was getting ready to play in a Christchurch club final when I got the call [from Hart]. It was a huge surprise because I had come from nowhere."

Thorne said the All Blacks had no idea yet how tough the Northern Hemisphere teams would be.

England are upbeat about their chances of knocking over New Zealand, Scotland won the Five Nations, Ireland are as tough as any side, Wales are on an unbeaten eight-game streak, while France will improve out of sight with three home games against Canada, Fiji and Namibia.

"We won't know how good England and the other sides are until we hit them. It's hard to judge how good they are at the moment," said Thorne.

The All Blacks had a day off from training yesterday to get over jetlag, after having an impressive workout in front of 4000 fans at Worcester, near Birmingham, the day before.

- NZPA